Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 7:17AM Blankets I have known: Aunt Marg's blanket
There was no grandmotherly crafting in my formative years. Nobody knit, nobody crocheted, nobody made paper valentines. I didn't know either of my biological grandmothers and we don't really have much of an extended family. But visiting my mom's Aunt Margaret was always a Christmas tradition. We'd spend Christmas Eve and the days prior with my grandparents in St. Louis. Christmas Eve Day, we dropped off Maggie (the best golden retriever ever) at Aunt Marg's for a few hours so we could have lunch with my Aunt Carolyn, who flew in from California. We'd go back to Aunt Marg's only to discover that she had fed Maggie...everything. And Maggie would have horrible gas the entire way home to Iowa. One year, we told Aunt Marg that Maggie was on a diet. So she gave her a bowl of orange juice.
Aunt Marg was old by the time I met her, but I'm pretty sure she was old when my mom was born. She was 91 when she died, back when I was in 8th grade. She lived in the same house for years and years, not far from The Hill in St. Louis. It was a little bungalow with steep cement steps and a trecherous journey to the basement.
I think Aunt Marg was a crafter from the word go. She worked in a shoe factory most of her life and I can still picture her gnarled hands resting in her lap. She used those hands to make some, uh, works of art.
This is the first blanket Aunt Marg made me. Now let me just be clear - Aunt Marg had some problems with her eyesight. I know of at least two cateract surgeries. Color theory wasn't really her thing. But the woman could crochet. I don't know how old I was when I received this blanket - four? Six? No idea. But I love it. I kept it at my parents' house while I was in college, afraid that something would happen to it. I reclaimed it last year - blankets need to be used.
This blanket brought out the young yarn snob in me. See the lime green stripe at the top? I kid you not, that stripe is softer and smells better than any other part of this blanket. To this day, I always keep that part of the blanket near my face. It keeps the monsters away.
I really love this crochet pattern. The blanket is constructed on the bias. My mom and I tried for quite awhile to figure out how Aunt Marg made this. All of our attempts come out square, but Aunt Marg's blanket is definitely a rectangle. I posed this question on Flickr and someone said you need to decrease on one side and increase on the other. I think I need someone to draw me a picture.
The most vivid memories I have of going to Aunt Marg's house are little ones. She was always trying to give us things, as her generation was wont to do, and she had one of those little ceramic Christmas trees with working imbedded lightbulbs. But she also had this room - her guest room - that was completely FILLED with craft supplies. I was only in there for a few minutes, just one time, but it's like it was etched into my brain. You couldn't see the bed. It was a single bed, in the very center of the room, completely covered with yarn and wrapping paper and god knows what else. The walls were a musty yellow, the closets stuffed with old clothes. My father was absolutely horrified at the sheer mess of the room. I, on the other hand, was completely enchanted with all of the possibilities that room held. Not surprisingly, these attitudes have carried over into my own craft room.
blankets i have known 
Reader Comments (3)
i love all your memories of your aunt marg
what a wonderful woman - and what a beautiful blanket
This is my mom and sister's favourite blanket to make. Always on the bias, always rectangles. I have two of them on my couch right now (but they're not striped) and I have two little ones protecting the armrests on my couch. I keep meaning to have them teach me how to get one started.
Oh, one more thing...you can also crochet this same pattern straight across, rather than on the bias. But I don't know how.